My youngest daughter was observing our Christmas tree the other day and divulged that when she was little she had always wanted one of those perfect, elaborate trees – flocked with a theme of ornaments or colors. She wanted a tree that really screamed Christmas.

We have a fake tree and all our ornaments mark events in her and her sister’s childhood, our family life, my husband’s and my early married life and even a time before I was married. I don’t recall purchasing more than a handful of them myself. They were gifts given to highlight a milestone in my kids’ lives or given to one of us because of a passion, hobby or collection we were into. They are really a hodgepodge of designs and colors. Some are homemade, some are store-bought; there is nothing sophisticated about our Christmas tree.

When my kids were small, my husband and I tried to start a tradition of cutting down a tree. It happened to be raining that year. Our daughters were quite young and although they liked the idea of mud puddles and raincoats, they hated being stuck in the wet weather until the task was finished. They didn’t care about which tree we chose, were not interested in helping with the saw, nor dragging the tree to the truck. Once they were finished with the novelty of the outdoors, they became whiny and impatient. Let’s just say the tradition didn’t stick.

In subsequent years I searched for a reasonably priced live tree. The task became a whole extra event for a busy time of year, so one summer we decided we should go fake when we bought a five foot imitation tree from a neighbor’s garage sale for five dollars. It was so much easier, and when it was time to decorate, we just pulled the tree out of the attic rather than go on an arduous hunt. I upgraded our fake tree after the kids grew taller than the tree. We found one at Fred Meyer on an after-Christmas sale.

I’m not one of those people who insist on an aesthetically balanced tree. I always let my daughters decorate it, no matter their ages, only helping to place ornaments higher than they could reach. I’ve been perfectly happy with our primitive tree every year as it has always been a reflection of our family.

I don’t spend a lot of time contemplating my Christmas decorations, either. To be honest, I don’t like the effort of decorating – removing the boxes from the attic, taking down our everyday items, placing the decorations, only to have to reverse it in a few weeks.

Don’t get me wrong. I do like Christmas decorations, I like the Christmas season and all it represents, but if I could push a button and have the underside of the house flip into my Christmas house, then push the button again and have it all magically disappear, I would be one satisfied woman.

Only one room in the house gets the Christmas treatment; the living room. Then we put a few lights around our front porch and window and the rest of the house remains untouched. I claim it’s because of the animals at the other end of the house that the family room isn’t decorated, but it’s really because I’m too lazy; what goes up must come down.

Part of me feels bad that I don’t enjoy the act of decorating. But as my youngest daughter sat in the living room and contemplated our simple tree, she changed her mind about wanting it more elaborate. Now she likes what it stands for – family.

Simple really is better, even when it comes to Christmas.

Gretchen Leigh is a stay-at-home mom who lives in Covington. You can read more of her writing and her daily blog on her website livingwithgleigh.com, on Facebook at “Living with Gleigh”or follow her on Twitter @livewithgleigh. Her column is available every week at maplevalleyreporter.com under the Lifestyles section.